Goosebumps Video Game Is Coming This Fall

The children's horror fiction series Goosebumps will soon be turned into a video game. WayForward is currently developing Goosebumps: The Game according to a new Xbox Store listing.

Goosebumps: The Game, like the novels, pits players against supernatural threats. The game ratchets up the horror a notch by throwing a whole range of beasts at players, though:

The walk home from school today is going to be a lot spookier than usual… Your sleepy neighborhood’s been overrun by monsters! Werewolves prowl the woods, Gnomes roam underfoot, and scarecrows walk at midnight. But these aren’t ordinary monsters—they’re R.L. Stine’s famous Goosebumps monsters, released from their books and looking to wreak havoc!

Players' journey will take them through their neighborhood, a haunted house, and a closed mall. The game will culminate with players confronting Slappy, the evil dummy featured in several Goosebumps books.

The first screenshots look a bit like those old MacVenture games such as Shadowgate and Deja Vu. The world seems to be split into static "rooms" with objects for players to collect or interact with. There are also characters to speak with to get more information. In some situations, players will need to fend off monsters as well. It's unclear whether you'll actually be able to die in this game, though.

Goosebumps: The Game is apparently a prequel to the film adaptation coming out this fall. In the Goosebumps film, all of the monsters from the novels have been accidentally unleashed on a small town. Author R.L. Stine (played by Jack Black) teams up with his daughter and a boy who lives next door to stop the monsters from taking over. The game is coming out on October 14th, just two days before the film's premiere.

It's a bit unusual that we're finding out about this game from Xbox Store rather than the developer or publisher. After all, the game can't effectively promote the film if no one knows the game's even coming. I guess Microsoft just jumped the gun with their listing and we'll see an official announcement from WayForward or publisher soon. I'd imagine they'll announce other platforms beyond Xbox 360 as well.